Abstract : The advance of micro-computer technology, the growing sophistication of specified propagation models, and the expanding ability to sense the medium and apply that knowledge in real time is leading to an improvement in the prediction of system performance for tactical users. The maturation of artificial intelligence disciplines should provide the user the advanced C3I decision aids an ability to manage the plethora of information more effectively. This paper identifies critical aspects of the process of developing useful and cost-effective decision aids with emphasis upon the HF medium which is strongly propagation-limited and controlled by variable and often unpredictable phenomena. A major factor in this field of activity is the evolution of 'self-adaptive' system architectures incorporating imbedded RTCE. In this context, the decision aid is a process which is operationally transparent to the user but could be user-defined. A key to the development of an adaptive resource management capability is the integration of a set of tools or decision aids of system parameters. The approach is ultimately limited by the accuracy with which the ionosphere or the HF channel may be specified. The accepted specification accuracy will determine the design approaches to be followed.